Red Cosmos
by Kid Eternity
Summary: AU/Follow Luffy as he goes through his life while dealing with school, family, friends and something much more.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a one shot featuring Hancock as a salary woman, while Luffy is in High School, I will try to make this story as original as possible, since it is NOT the stereotypical student/teacher romance fic.**

**Luffy – 18**

**Hancock – 30**

**In this universe, the characters will still retain their names since it is the norm here. Luffy will not wear his signature Straw Hat all the time since he is a student after all. He attends Mugiwara Gakuen with Ussop, Coby and Helmeppo.**

**This is just a one-shot, but if you like it, I will try to add in more chapters. One Piece is protected under copyright of law and belongs to Eichiro Oda. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Oi, Luffy, when's the deadline of our thesis?"

It was 7:59 in the morning, and two teenagers were walking by the hallway having just arrived on time, "I heard from Mr. Shanks that it's going to be by the end of this month, but I'm not really sure. At any rate, we can still do other stuff before that,"

Ussop scratched the back of his neck, "Come on Luffy, Mr. Shanks almost gave us a bad grade on our last project,"

"The diorama was fragile to begin with, it was your fault for buying cheap glue," Luffy said as he walked ahead of his friend.

"This is important Luffy, it's our last year in high school and our thesis is going to give us the credit we need to graduate, have you picked a topic for it already?" Ussop walked up to catch up with him,

"Pirates,"

"Come again?" Ussop raised an eyebrow,

"Let's make a thesis on pirates, you know, the privateers of old and all the other cool stuff about them," Luffy grinned widely,

"What kind of thesis is that? Oops! Let's talk later, we're here," Ussop said as both of them entered the classroom.

As Luffy neared his seat, a boy with pink hair and glasses waved at him, "Oi! Luffy, _ohayou_!"

"_Ohayou_ Coby, where's Helmeppo?" Luffy said as he high-fived him,

"Not here yet, probably going to end up late again, he might as well get the record for most tardy,"

"Ha! That's so like him, so anyway, have you decided on a topic for your thesis?" Luffy leaned closer towards his friend,

"Yeah, mostly about online gaming and how it's affecting the common youth nowadays," Coby said as he propped his head up on his desk,

"Really? That's cool. So have you heard already? Soul King Brook is going to hold a live concert next week, want to go with me and Ussop? All four of us can pool our money for tickets,"

"You bet, I'll talk it over with Helmeppo and see if he's available,"

Not long after the teacher had finally arrived, "Alright class, settle down, it's time to start the lesson,"

Class as usual went along smoothly, with Helmeppo arriving late again, prompting Shanks to tap him on the head with his textbook before pointing him to the direction of his seat, much to the amusement of the class.

_Later_

"A concert!?" Helmeppo said out loud,

"Yeah, Soul King Brook! Can you believe that he's arriving all the way from Austria to hold a live concert here in Japan!"

"Since when has an Austrian musician ever expressed an interest here?" Ussop said as he was chewing food,

"He's on a world tour! Me and Luffy have all of his albums, he even made covers for popular Japanese folk songs," Coby said,

"Really? _Sugoi_, so do you think concert tickets are gonna be expensive?" Helmeppo asked before opening his _bento_.

"Probably around 3000 yen each," Luffy said as he was scarfing down his food,

…

"_**3000 YEN**_!" the others exclaimed out loud.

"Th-that's like over 12,000 yen for all of us! How in the hell do we expect to get that kind of money!?" Ussop said indignantly,

Helmeppo stuck his chin up, "Ha! My dad won't even give me 2000 yen let alone 3, forget it, I've got better things to do than go to some concert,"

"Yeah, I guess maybe we can just skip on this one, sorry Luffy," Ussop said disappointingly,

"Aw, but I already saved up enough of my allowance for mine. Coby, you'll still come right?"

Coby hesitated before shaking his head, "I...I guess I can't, money's been tight since my aunt told me to save up," he then resumed eating, leaving a disappointed Luffy who shortly followed with his meal, "_Aw man, now who am I going to take with me_..._wait_, _maybe she's free during that time_, _I'll call her later to check_,"

_Amazon Lily Inc._

Boa Hancock was seated at her desk in her office, going through several documents containing various information such as company stocks, resumes, reports, etc.

Suddenly, the phone next to her rang, but shortly changed to voicemail, "_Hello? Hancock, are you there~nyon_?" the voice belonged to an old woman, catching Hancock's attention and prompting her to hold up the receiver,

"Didn't I already tell you that the cosmetics department had already received a fresh delivery of hair dye?"

"_Yes, but I wasn't able to receive your report on it, so I did what any pragmatic business woman would do, call the one who ordered it~nyon_,"

A small vein popped on the younger woman's forehead, "Listen you old fart, for the umpteenth time if you don't stop calling me I'll throw you off this building, understand?"

"_Oh my, is that any way to talk to the woman who practically raised you~nyon_?" the voice trailed off, but was lined with enough mischief that it made Hancock gnash her teeth.

Further pushed into irritation, she slammed the receiver back and resumed what she was doing, "_The nerve of that woman, if she only knew how much work I go through everyday for her I bet she'd have a heart attack,_" the thought of that quickly brought a smile to her face as she opened a folder and proceeded to read its contents.

Suddenly, the door of her office opened revealing a tall woman with short green hair, holding two cups of steaming hot coffee "Anee-sama, here's some coffee, you might need some to jack you up after the late night you had," she gently placed one a safe distance from her sister, mindful of the papers.

"Sandersonia, this is work, so I expect you to not be overly familiar with me here," she lectured her sibling without looking up,

"Oh right, sorry An-Ms. Boa," she took a sip from her own cup while leaning on the front of the desk, "So have you heard from Marigold yet?" she asked casually,

"Mm, she hasn't emailed me in a while, nor texted,"

"Ha, to think our sister would land a big break to showcase her Spring collection in London,"

"You know her, give her something to draw on and you might end up wearing whatever she churns out of that noggin of hers," a smile crept on her lips as she continued reading one of the resumes,

"So how is he?" Sandersonia asked out of nowhere,

"How's who?"

"Your boyfriend," Hancock looked up from what she was reading and stared at her sister before slapping the latter with it, "You'd better stop slacking off or the old fart's not going to leave you alone,"

"Yeah, yeah, but next time he asks you out don't spare me the details okay?" Sandersonia eyed her sister playfully as she closed the door, "_Sometimes I wonder why I even bother __not __to say anything at all_," Hancock rubbed her eyes before going back to work herself.

_Later_

Hancock was walking through the parking lot towards her Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, when she suddenly felt her phone ring, "_If it's her again, she better put herself up for life insurance_,"

However, as she took a look at the caller ID, her cheeks went red before pressing call, "Hello?"

"_Ne, ore dayo, where are you_?" it was a young boy's voice,

"This isn't exactly the best time, I'm at the parking lot and I was about to drive home,"

"_I just wanted to ask you something, it'll only take a minute,_"

"(Sigh) What is it?"

"_I was hoping to take you to a concert next saturday, I hope you're free,_" he sounded enthusiastic, "Oh...next Saturday? I-I suppose I am but...listen, why don't we talk it over by lunch tomorrow, can you meet me at our usual, Luffy?"

"_Sure thing, I'll be there...oh by the way, about last time_-"

"Forget it, Sandersonia's already forgiven you, it wasn't your fault anyway, at least she finally got the haircut she wanted,"

"_I still think I should apologize to her in-person, you know, just to make it official,_" there was a sincere sense of regret in his voice,

"Alright, but not now, I'll be busy because I'm bringing work home, so I'll see you there Luffy, bye," she made a kiss before Luffy replied, "_Yeah, bye and safe trip,_" and with that she pressed hangup.

Seeing her car by the corner of her eye, a thin smile formed on her lips, "_At least he called, it's been a week since the last time I invited him over to my condo. Sandersonia probably would have been okay with it had he not accidentally set her hair on fire with that candle, that's the last time I try to scent up the place like that,_"

After entering and starting it up, more thoughts began to invade her mind, "_To think, that I fell for a kid like that...I really don't know what's wrong with me...but at any rate I really don't feel like regretting it anytime soon,_"

_At Luffy's house_

As Luffy entered through the door, he was met by an unexpected; and rather painful punch. Failing to dodge it, he fell to the ground with a bloody nose while giving out a sharp yelp of pain, "_What the hell was that?_"

Looking up from where he was sprawled on the ground, he saw a tall, old man towering over him with a scowl so fierce it would make a little girl cry, "Luffy...where in the hell have you been? I've been waiting for you to work on your chores and you come here late!?"

"Idiot! It's 4 in the afternoon, how can I be late?" Luffy struggled to stand up before making eye contact with his grandfather, "Ha! You weren't nearly early enough, as if I have enough chores around here since your brother left for college and your father's working overseas, you're the only one I got! So don't be a lazy bum and CLEAN THE GARAGE, AND WHEN YOU'RE DONE CLEAN THE REST OF THE HOUSE!" he administered another punch to the head which knocked Luffy out.

_Moments later..._

"_Kuso_, that old man gets to slack off while I'm left with all of the work, _this is child labor you know_!" he voiced out vehemently as he was sweeping the floor, which unfortunately wasn't unheard by Garp who arose from the living room holding a remote, "Child? You're a man for crying out loud, now start acting like one or you won't get any dinner tonight!"

This rose Luffy up to attention, "_Eh_! You can't be serious, I'm starving over here, at least give me some rice crackers to keep me motivated,"

"As if I'll let you eat my rice crackers! Now less talking and more cleaning!" and without a second thought, he gave his grandson another one to the head.

_Much later..._

Dinner was bittersweet for Luffy, since he was so exhausted to the point his muscles were aching. He could barely move, let alone feed himself, and the food hardly even lightened his mood as Garp wasn't exactly a whiz in the kitchen, "Oi..._kuso-jii_, you call this food? I've seen dogs eat better crap than this!"

"Stop complaining, at least you're eating something and you have a roof over your head, be thankful damn it!" he said with a mouth full of rice and fried milkfish,

_Again, much later..._

As Luffy entered his room, relieved that he finally had time to himself, he couldn't help but feel that something was missing. As he surveyed his surroundings, he noticed that something really _was _missing, "_Eh_! Where's my straw hat?"

Getting out of his room, he quickly bolted downstairs to confront his grandfather, who was comfortably watching television while sitting by the sofa, "_Oi __Jii-chan_, where's my straw hat?"

"Huh? What straw hat?" he asked blithely, then started to pick his nose,

Enraged, Luffy slowly walked in front of the old man and grabbed the top of the sofa on both sides, obscuring the latter from his show, "The straw hat that Mr. Shanks gave me for my 7th birthday!"

"Oh that, I hid it in the attic," he answered nonchalantly while moving around to get a view, "The attic! Why did you put it there?" Luffy's mouth fell open,

"What's the point of wearing that thing anyway? You've had it for like 11 years already, and I could have sworn that it was starting to stink! You're too old to be hanging on to that,"

"_Kuso-jii_!" feeling that he had already tolerated enough, Luffy slowly balled his right hand into a fist and was about to punch Garp, but suddenly heard his cell ring in his pocket.

Caught by surprise, he hesitated for a bit as his breathing was starting to slow down. Letting his temper escape his mind, he then walked out of the living room and into the main hallway where he answered it, "Hello?"

"_Ne Luffy it's me, are you busy? I just want to talk to you for a moment,_" it was Hancock,

Luffy scratched his scalp and peeked in on his grandfather, who was idly glued to his show, "Oh...uh sure, what's up?"

"_I'm gonna have to skip lunch with you tomorrow, I have a lunch date with a client and I can't bail on it. I hope that's okay,_"

"Oh uh, n-no problem, heh! I was just asking if you'd be interested on going with me to the Soul King concert,"

There was a moment of silence before Hancock spoke up again, "_Soul King? You mean Soul King Brook?_"

"You know him?" Luffy raised an eyebrow,

"_He's only one of our top clients, he regularly buys our hair care products by the boxes, how do you think he keeps up that afro of his?_" Hancock's voice was calm and smooth, just the kind of sound Luffy wanted to hear, "Listen Hancock, if you aren't too busy, maybe we can go on another date, my treat!"

Hesitating for a moment, Hancock just shrugged and replied, "_Sure, but I hope it won't be cheap like last time,_"

Luffy grinned widely, "Don't worry, the Thousand Sunny happens to belong to a friend of the family's, he always gives me discounts, and the food is fantastic!" his mouth watered at the mere thought of the menu,

"Well...alright then, see you Luffy," as the call ended on her side, she began to ponder to herself again, "_Hm, the concert might not be such a bad idea, and even if I don't get to have a talk with the Soul King, I'd still spend time with Luffy,_" her cheeks went red again as she squeezed a pillow by the bean bag she was sitting on.


	2. Chapter 2

April 10, 2013

"I really didn't expect you to be my lunch date Kuzan,"

Boa Hancock was seated outside of the restaurant, The Baratie, with a tall man in a navy blue suit, with a long coat hanging at the back of his seat, "My boss couldn't make it, but I trust that you don't mind me as a substitute?"

She signaled to a nearby waiter, who shortly gave each of them menus, "I'd prefer anyone over that man any day, he can be such a prick sometimes,"

"I don't deny that, but I don't really care what he does so long as I keep my job,"

After they ordered, they resumed their conversation, "I assume that you're still not going to sell to our company?"

"After thinking it over, I have to say no. Nyon's already invested too much of her life into Amazon Lily in order to give it away,"

"Hm, well just so you know, our board members won't be pleased by your response,"

"We can deal with that, and I couldn't care less about what pleases them. WG Industries may be the leading developers of military grade weaponry for Japan, but Amazon Lily's just a run of the mill cosmetics company,"

"You know just as well as I do that you're already on the verge of bankruptcy, what with your stock falling significantly last year,"

"We've made some progress, and I'm confident that in due time, we'll be able to make a recovery,"

Kuzan just sat there and stared at her in silence, until he noticed the waiter coming back,

"(Sigh) I knew this was a waste of time, just so you know I'd rather be in my office right now enjoying a long, relaxing nap,"

"Didn't I say he was a prick?" Hancock said with a smile on her face,

"I don't suppose you have other plans after this?" Kuzan asked with mock curiosity,

"Not really, although I was supposed to meet somebody for lunch other than you. I had to cancel on him,"

Kuzan raised an eyebrow, "Him? Don't tell me you have a boyfriend?"

"And why pray tell does that surprise you?"

"Well...I always assumed that you were...you know," Kuzan awkwardly averted his eyes from her. Unfortunately, she quickly took notice, "Are you that presumptuous? I'm not into women you bastard!"

Surprised, he quickly explained himself, "What? No! I meant untouchable, I always thought no guy would ever be able to score a relationship with you! Where did that come from?"

Slightly embarrassed, she leaned back as the waiter had arrived with her club sandwich, "Thank you. Excuse me for that Kuzan, it's just that I have a rather uncomfortable tendency to attract people of the same sex,"

"If only it was that easy for me," Kuzan mused sardonically as the waiter handed him his parfait.

After the two finished, they were about to go their separate ways, "I hope you reconsider in the near future Hancock, at least it'll give my superiors a reason to leave me the hell alone to rest," Kuzan said with a bored tone,

"Not likely, but I'll be sure to put a rain check on it to keep you on your toes," her smile held a certain smugness to it that was enough to make the other man cringe a bit, "You people just don't want me to catch a break do you?" he was about to turn and leave but was stopped by Hancock,

"Can I interest you in a ride? It's the 4th out of ten that were first released to the public," she pointed to her brand new Stingray with her keys, only for Kuzan to politely decline, "No thanks, being in a car with a highly attractive woman has always spelled trouble for me in the worst possible ways,"

"Too bad, well see you around Kuzan, and be sure to send my regards to that ass of a boss of yours," Hancock said with mock enthusiasm.

_Later_

Hancock was casually driving her way through the streets, dodging traffic and taking any possible routes that would take her back to Amazon Lily the fastest, all the while thinking quietly to herself as she reflected on what Kuzan told her,

"_To think that bastard still wants the company, why doesn't he just say it outright that he only wants it because of me. He is so petty, and I was actually almost engaged to that guy!?_"

The rage inside her started to build as she remembered one of her least proudest of memories.

_One Year Ago_

The Dressrosa Hotel was possibly one of the classiest places in Japan, as it was a hotspot and a regular for the rich and privileged. Being run by its founder and owner, Donquixote Doflamingo, the man was practically the personification of charisma when it came to how he handled almost everything that contributed to its success.

Right now, it was at its busiest time of the year as the guests piled up for the summer, and among them all, were three sisters and their adoptive mother near the counter waiting in line for their turn to get their rooms, "Who was the idiot that forgot to book reservations here anyway?" Hancock said as she eyed her surroundings,

"It was nyobody's fault, we were just way too busy with regaining our stock that I-someone simply did not have the foresight to~nyon," Nyon quickly went back to facing the reception counter, leaving an irritated Hancock with a popping vein, "_Kuso-baa_, you expect me and my sisters to wait here sweating when we could be enjoying an air conditioned room with a view, why don't we just leave you here?"

"Fine by me, then I can just enjoy the luxurious hospitality here~nyon," she giggled mischievously at her daughter, causing the latter to flare with indignation, "_Teme_, Sandersonia, Marigold!"

Both replied in unison, "_Hai_, Ane-sama!?"

"Let's try and find someplace around here to quell our boredom while this old bag gets us our rooms," and with that, the three of them walked away from the line, leaving their mother to attend to their registration herself, with the only reaction being an exasperated sigh, and a "Why I even adopted you three is beyond me,"

As the sisters walked past through the hall full of guests, all the while trying to divert any attention she garnered from onlookers which utterly disgusted her, with her mind racing, "_Men, the only thing they're _really_ good at is sticking their egos into women, what a joke_!"

As eyes continued to focus on her, she couldn't help but close hers in frustration, "_This is just like before_..._just like before_!" lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice on time to dodge when she bumped into someone, "Ah, what the? Watch where you're going!"

Without even considering who the person was, she quickly continued, "As if this place isn't crowded enough already, get out of my way!" her sisters on the other hand, were at least more tactful, as they immediately recognized and stared in horror at who exactly it was that their sister was berating,

Marigold struggled to speak, barely able to form any coherent words between breaths, "A-Anes-sama...that's...that's Akainu...Sakazuki!"

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**Wowsers, never knew I'd get this much readers! Thank you for the recent reviews, I'm still handling ideas for my other stories but you'll be expecting soon from me. TY**


	3. Chapter 3

"Akainu?" Hancock stared as the tall man that she had bumped into turned to his right and looked at her.

Wearing a black suit over a red waistcoat, black trousers and brown loafers, his appearance was complemented by a black fedora on top of his head.

"Is there something that I can help you with Miss?" he asked politely, but his tone was unflinchingly stern, coupled only by his expression which seemed to be calm, yet somewhat rigid.

Hancock just scoffed at him, "Yes actually, you can help me by moving out of my way,"

Taken by surprise, Akainu's expression did not change save for a raised eyebrow, "Is there a please to go along with that?" followed by his lips forming into a thin smile,

Frowning, she immediately replied, "I rarely say please to anyone, especially to men, now if you don't mind me and my sisters, we're going to the lounge," and with that, the three continued on their way, leaving a slightly bewildered, if not amused Akainu, "_I wonder what's her problem, but needless to say she's quite fine to look at,_"

_At the lounge..._

The Boa sisters were sitting at the bar of the lounge, each with their respective drinks, most notably Hancock, whose order was a Black Russian, "Anee-sama, do you have any idea who you just bumped into back there?" Sandersonia said to her sister, who simply looked bored as she was propping her head up with her right hand.

Taking a sip from her drink, she glanced at her younger sibling, "Okay, tell me, and why should I care?"

Running a hand through her hair, Sandersonia moved in closer, "That was Sakazuki Akainu! The CEO of WG Industries, the leading weapon manufacturers in Japan, that man is considered a giant in the corporate world. I'm surprised he didn't reprimand you for that slight,"

Smiling smugly, Hancock just stirred her drink, "Oh Sandersonia, as if any man would have the nerve to lay a hand on me. With beauty such as mine, I can stop any of them in their tracks, even our board members can barely take their eyes off me when I'm in a room with them,"

"Even so, I doubt Akainu would be so forgiving, but seeing as he just met you I think he let you off easy there," Marigold said before taking a long swig from her Long Island Iced Tea, "You two worry too much, after a long, almost fruitful year, this is our well deserved vacation, so you girls should let go because I certainly won't waste this opportunity to have fun,"

She took another sip, shortly followed by soft music that started playing from the speakers at the top corners of the walls.

Even more bored than before, Hancock failed to notice someone sitting beside Marigold, who was at her right.

He was facing away from the table, with his elbows propped on as he leaned against it, "Hey, you girls having a hell of a time?" it was a man, with short blonde hair, dark skin, and wearing a red hawaiian shirt with white trousers, along with white loafers.

"We're fine thank you, and if you're trying to hit on us, the alcohol intake for me to even give a crap would literally kill me," Hancock said nonchalantly, which prompted Marigold to apologize to the stranger, "Sorry about that, my sister has a...slight aversion to guys who try to...well,"

The man simply waved his hand, "Hey, hey, don't let me stop you girls from having the time of your lives, but this place is gonna get hot soon, so I recommend sitting somewhere cool. There's a VIP lounge around the corner, and the AC is just right," he grinned at them while motioning to a door at the far left corner of the bar.

The sisters just looked at one another before Hancock spoke up, "You know girls, alcohol poisoning is starting to sound really good right now, wouldn't you agree?"

Marigold just smiled, "I'll drink to that!" and downed hers in one full swig, at the same time as Sandersonia.

The man shrugged and decided to continue on his way, but not before dispensing a few parting words, "Well, I hope you guys enjoy the hotel. I'd hate to see three lovely ladies bore themselves to death. Well then, ciao!" he waved a hand and left, the grin not escaping his face whatsoever.

"What was that about?" Sandersonia asked, now a bit tipsy from downing her Long Island too fast.

Before replying, Hancock finished her own drink before replying, "You know what? I really don't give a damn. Let's just go back to the old woman and see how she's doing," and with that, the three left the bar and made their way through the people, with the two younger sisters shambling slightly from intoxication.

It didn't take long for them to find their mother, who was already next at the counter, "_Oi _old bag, I see you're next, do your feet hurt from standing up too long, or do one of us have to take your place,"

Nyon didn't reply for a few seconds, prompting Hancock to ask her again, "_Oi_, are you listening to me?" she grabbed the older woman by the shoulder and started to shake her, only for the latter's head to fall back and saw that she was...sleeping?

Hancock quickly grabbed her adoptive mother by the shoulders and lifted her up off her feet, "_What the hell_!? Hey you shitty old bag it's your turn in line, wake up!" she then shaked her vigorously, but to no avail, until she heard a bell ring, "Um...excuse me Miss, but are you part of the line?" it was a tall man wearing sunglasses, a black suit, and black shoes.

He had shaved black hair, and a thin beard, "There are other guests, so I kindly suggest you move along please,"

Exasperated beyond belief, Hancock took their papers and money from Nyon's hands and quickly turned to face the clerk, who was already showing signs of impatience, "Yes, here, um, sorry for the wait, but my mother just happened to have another one of her narcolepsy attacks, heh,"

Unamused, the man gave them the keys and the number of their room, "Take this to one of the bellhops and he'll help you upstairs, next!" he rang the bell again, and the four of them went on to look for a bellhop.

Nyon, who was being carried by Marigold, suddenly woke up from her nap and frantically looked around, "_Nyo_! What happened? Where am I?" her questions only infuriated Hancock even more, "So how was your nap you shitty old toad!?" she was fuming as she walked past other guests,

"Eh!? I fell asleep again~nyon? Sorry dear, but you know old age, right~nyon?"

"Zip it! Now shut up while I look for a freaking bellhop in this place," and the sisters disappeared into the busy crowd.

At the same time, the revolving door at the entrance rotated, with three individuals entering one after another.

Two grown men, one being much older than the other, with the last being a teenager, "_Ne, tou-san_, is this the Dressrosa Hotel?" the latter asked,

"Yes Luffy, I'm supposed to meet with the owner to discuss some business matters, dad, you handle getting our rooms, alright? Oh, and Luffy, I don't want you getting into too much trouble understand?" the man lectured as he handed his father their documents and money,

"_Hai_, you can count on me dad," Luffy mused as he slipped his hands into his pockets and surveyed the main hall.

"No need for any of your money son, I have mine. _Oi_! Luffy, get your ass here this instant!" the old man called to his grandson, who was about to walk towards the stairs, "Yeah, yeah, don't get your fists in a butt," he replied as he reluctantly obeyed, which managed to provoke the elder to snap,

"**_WHAT DID YOU_ _SAY_!?**" he quickly delivered a punch that knocked the boy out.


End file.
